Current lab members:
Nadia (Nadejda) Tsankova, MD/PhD – Principal Investigator
Mohammad Imran Khalil Khan, PhD – Postdoctoral fellow
(Mohammad is a biomedical researcher with expertise in cancer biology, molecular epigenetics, biochemistry, and RNA regulation. He received his Ph.D. in Biotechnology with a specialization in Molecular Epigenetics from Pondicherry University in 2020 and then worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York. His current research focuses on uncovering the molecular mechanisms that drive cancer progression, recurrence, and therapeutic resistance, with the goal of identifying novel, targetable vulnerabilities in glioblastoma.)
Debdatta Halder, PhD – Postdoctoral fellow
(Debdatta studies epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms underlying glioblastoma heterogeneity, oncoplasticity, and therapeutic resistance. Her work focuses on the mechanistic effects of clinically relevant compounds, integrating functional genomics, single-cell approaches, and cell biology to understand stress-adaptive tumor states with translational relevance.)
Thenzing Silva, PhD – Postdoctoral fellow with Susana and Balu
(Thenzing is a veterinarian pathologist who is currently involved in paradigm-shifting studies, developing new preclinical GBM models that mimic residual disease at the tumor margin after resection and testing drug efficacy using new generation TEAD inhibitors with oral bioavailability and superior pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics).
Past lab members:
Susana Isabel Ramos, PhD
Balu (Balagopal) Pai, PhD – Postdoctoral fellow
Anne Marie Barrette, PhD Graduate, from 2017 to 2020
Tanvi Joshi, BS – Master’s Student, from 2019 to 2021
Jessica Tome-Garcia, PhD, from 2014 to 2019
Parsa Erfani – Research Associate, from 2014 to 2016
(Harvard Medical graduate, currently resident at Brigham and Women’s)
Halle Ronk – Medical Student ISMMS
Elisa Falk, PhD – Neuropathology research elective
(currently Neurology resident at Boston Children’s)
Elizabeth LaMarca – Graduate student, PhD candidate
Corey Gill – Medical / Masters Student
(currently resident in Neurosurgery at Washington University)
Zarmeen Mussa, BS – Research Associate
Jordan Goldberg, MS – Masters Student, from 2014-2015
Elodia Caballero, BS – Undergraduate Student, from 2015 to 2016
(currently medical student at UCSF)
Collaborators:
Dr. Peter Canoll, Pathology (Columbia University)
Dr. Fiona Doetsch, Neuroscience, Stem Cell Biology (Biozentrum, University of Basel)
Dr. Elena Zaslavsky and Dr. German Nudelman, Neurology (ISMMS)
Dr. Martin Walsh, Neurology, Genetics and Genomics (ISMMS)
Dr. Robert Sebra, Genetics and Genomic Science (ISMMS)
Dr. Alexander Tsankov, Oncological Sciences (ISMMS)
Dr. Roland Friedel, Neuroscience (ISMMS)
Dr. Raymund Yong, Neurosurgery (ISMMS)
Dr. Jenny Zhou, Neuroscience (ISMMS)
Dr. Costas Hadjipanayis, Neurosurgery (ISMMS)
Dr. Ming-Ming Zhou, Pharmacological Sciences (ISMMS)
Dr. Cathie Pfleger, Oncological Sciences (ISMMS)
Dr. Carlos Cordon-Cardo, Pathology (ISMMS)
Dr. Schahram Akbarian, Psychiatry (ISMMS)
Dr. Pamela Sklar, Genetics and Genomic Science (ISMMS)
( the legacy of whom continues to guide our scientific questions and aspirations )
Dr. Kristen Brennand, Neuroscience (ISMMS)
Dr. Raj Shrivastava, Neurosurgery (ISMMS)
Dr. Saadi Ghatan, Neurosurgery (ISMMS)
Dr. Adilia Hormigo, Neuro-Oncology (ISMMS)
Dr. Panagiotis Roussos, Psychiatry (ISMMS)
Dr. Priti Balchandani, Radiology (ISMMS)
Dr. Patrick Hoff, Neuroscience (ISMMS)